Everything Must Go
Ferrell stars in this comedy drama film based on the short story Why Don’t You Dance? by Raymond Carver. He plays alcoholic salesman Nick Halsey who gets fired from his job of 16 years, loses his wife, and gets locked out of his house at the same time. With his bank accounts frozen and all of his possessions strewn about the front lawn, he tries to get to grips with his life as he sells his belongings one by one.
First of all, I just really thought it was one of the stronger scripts I had read in a long time. Dan Rush the writer and director had done such a remarkable job and I loved getting a chance to play a character like this, you know, a real piece of acting for me. I also love the unique premise of this movie, I felt like you know, to watch a guy be exposed to the entire world and live his life in front of everyone was something I hadn’t seen before.
Semi-Pro
Ferrell stars in this sports comedy film directed by Kent Alterman. He plays a former singer named Jackie Moon who uses the money he earns from his only hit song Love Me Sexy to buy the Flint Tropics, an ABA team based in Flint, Michigan. Apart from owner, he also serves as the team’s coach, promoter, and starting forward. He hires former NBA bench-warmer Ed Monix, played by Woody Harrelson, to improve the struggling team’s performance. The film also stars André Benjamin, David Koechner, and Maura Tierney. On his basketball skills:
Probably, well, one of the best celebrity basketball players in the world. Even though I wasn’t invited to the Celebrity NBA All-Star game that happened last night or two nights ago. No, I’m okay, you know I played a lot in high school, I still play pick-up ball here and there, so that’s probably the sport I played the most, so to get to do a basketball comedy was like a dream come true.
Blades of Glory
Ferrell plays a competitive ice skater named Chazz Michael Michaels in this comedy film directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck. After getting banned from the World Winter Sports Games with fellow gold medal winner Jimmy MacElroy because of an unfortunate accident, they both descend into obscurity. An opportunity to compete again against their brother-and-sister nemesis arises, and they perform an extremely dangerous move to ensure victory. Jon Heder, Will Arnett, and Amy Poehler co-star. On his chemistry with Heder:
We met in the parking lot of Pickwick Ice Rink in Burbank. It was like, ‘Hey, nice to meet you.’ ‘Yeah, you too.’ ‘This should be fun, right?’ ‘It’s going to be hard, huh?’ ‘You don’t know how to skate, do you?’ ‘No.’ ‘I don’t either.’ ‘Okay, I’ll see you later.’ (Laughing) That was kind of it.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
In this pastiche of James Bond films directed by Jay Roach, Myers stars as Austin Powers and as his arch-villain, Dr. Evil. Myers also wrote the script for the film in about three weeks after spouting the hero’s trademark catchphrases to his wife. Myers says Roach encouraged the cast to go off-script: “About 30 to 40 percent is improv.”
Fellow SNL star Ferrell appears in a small role as Mustafa, Dr. Evil’s Moroccan (and resilient) henchman.
